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Abstract:

A system for modifying a virtual disk to provide network interface card
(NIC) teaming capabilities to a virtual disk. The system can include a
virtual disk that has access to one or more NICs. In some instances, the
NICs are included in a NIC team that is also available to the virtual
disk. A teaming module executing on a computer can identify the NIC team
and responsively obtain a media access control (MAC) address of the NIC
team. In response to obtaining the NIC team MAC address, the teaming
module can obtain a network boot MAC address that was used to PXE boot
the virtual disk. The teaming module can then replace the NIC team MAC
address of each NIC in the NIC team with the obtained network boot MAC
address. The system then boots from the virtual disk that has the
modified NIC team configuration.

Claims:

1.-16. (canceled)

17. A method for providing network interface card (NIC) teaming
capabilities, the method comprising: obtaining, by a teaming module
executing on a computer, a media access control (MAC) address of a NIC
team; obtaining, by the teaming module responsive to obtaining the NIC
team MAC address, a network boot MAC address used to PXE boot a virtual
disk; and replacing, by the teaming module, the NIC team MAC address of
each NIC in the NIC team with the obtained network boot MAC address.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising: identifying the NIC team,
the NIC team available to the virtual disk.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising: booting the virtual disk
to create the NIC team.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the NIC team includes a plurality of
NICs, the method further comprising: replacing, by the teaming module,
the NIC team MAC address of each NIC of the plurality of NICs in the NIC
team with the obtained network boot MAC address.

24. The method of claim 17, further comprising: identifying the NIC team,
the NIC team available to the virtual disk; and enumerating each NIC
included in the NIC team.

25. The method of claim 17, further comprising: identifying the NIC team,
wherein the NIC team is configured to bind to a network stack filter
driver.

26. The method of claim 17, further comprising: parsing a registry of the
virtual disk for a subkey specifying a bind to a network stack filter
driver.

27. The method of claim 17, wherein obtaining the NIC team MAC address
further comprises: obtaining a NIC team MAC address bound to a network
stack filter driver.

28. The method of claim 17, further comprising: updating a registry of
the virtual disk to include the network boot MAC address.

29. A system for providing network interface card (NIC) teaming
capabilities, the system comprising: a teaming module executing on a
computer to: obtain a media access control (MAC) address of a NIC team
available to a virtual disk, the NIC team comprising multiple NICs,
obtain, responsive to obtaining the NIC team MAC address, a network boot
MAC address used to PXE boot the virtual disk, and replace the NIC team
MAC address of each NIC in the NIC team with the obtained network boot
MAC address.

30. The system of claim 29, further comprising the teaming module
executing on the computer to identify the NIC team.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the teaming module identifies the NIC
team by identifying a NIC team bound to a network stack filter driver.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the NIC team is bound to the network
stack filter driver.

33. The system of claim 30, further comprising the teaming module
executing on the computer to set, responsive to identifying the NIC team,
the media access control (MAC) address of the NIC team.

34. The system of claim 29, wherein the network boot MAC address
comprises a PXE boot MAC address of a NIC used to PXE boot the virtual
disk.

35. The system of claim 29, further comprising the teaming module
executing on the computer to enumerate each NIC included in the NIC team.

36. The system of claim 29, wherein the teaming module updates a registry
of the virtual disk to include the network boot MAC address.

Description:

RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This U.S. Patent Application claims priority to U.S. Provisional
Patent Application Ser. No. 61/166,762, filed on Apr. 5, 2009, the
disclosure of which is considered part of the disclosure of this
application and is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

[0003] Link aggregation is a technology that can be used to link together
multiple network ports to create a level of redundancy within a networked
environment and to increase the speed by which information is transmitted
and processed. In some instances, link aggregation can be used to load
balance network traffic amongst multiple network interface cards (NICs),
and can provide a level of fault tolerance and redundancy should one or
more NICs fail. In most cases implementations of link aggregation in a
system may conform to the IEEE 802.1AX standard or the IEEE 802.3ad
standard. Link aggregation can be accomplished by teaming NICs together
using teaming software or some other software or hardware configuration
able to link together multiple NICs. Linking or trunking together NICs
can permit the creation of a NIC aggregation that can transmit and
receive data over a network at speeds much greater than the speed at
which any single network interface card within the aggregation can
transmit or receive data.

[0004] When creating a virtual hard disk for use in a network boot system,
a network filter driver associated with a network stack may bind to each
of the physical network interface cards on a provisioning server. If
multiple network interface cards on the provisioning server have been
trunked or linked together via network interface card teaming software,
the network interface card teaming software can create a single unified
virtual network interface card team to which the network filter driver
will bind. Teaming software creates a network interface card team by
associating each NIC team member's physical MAC address. When
provisioning the virtual hard disk to a client machine, issues arise
because the MAC addresses of the NICs differ on different machines.
Therefore, the NIC teaming software cannot establish a team during boot
time and therefore fails to stream the virtual disk.

[0005] The issues posed by creating a virtual disk based in part on a
physical disk employing a teaming module to link network interface cards
may not be overcome by using the physical network interface card details
of the client machine and presenting them to the streamed operating
system. Such a solution likely will fail because the MAC addresses
associated with the physical network interface cards will differ from the
MAC addresses on different computing machines. This difference can
confuse the network stack and hinder the network stack from operating
both efficiently and properly. NIC teaming may also be limited to a
private image mode because the physical MAC addresses differ from machine
to machine. The differing MAC addresses make it difficult for the NIC
teaming software to re-create a NIC team during boot time since each NIC
team identifies the underline physical NIC by MAC address. Thus, a need
exists for a virtual disk creation and delivery method that permits the
virtual disk to retain its network interface card teaming capabilities
without hindering the virtual disk provisioning process.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0006] In its broadest interpretation, this disclosure describes systems
and methods for provisioning a virtual disk having network interface card
teaming capabilities. Linking network interface cards (NIC) together
using network interface card teaming software creates a NIC team which is
an aggregate of the linked NICs. This NIC team can be used in the system
as a single NIC that transmits and receives network data at speeds
greater than a single network interface card within the team. Issues can
arise when this NIC team is included in a virtual disk because that
virtual disk can identify the NIC team as the boot network interface card
that can be used to stream applications and content to the virtual disk.
In many instances, a NIC teaming software requirement can be that the NIC
MAC addresses stored in a registry, match the MAC address of the NIC
team. The problems posed by requiring that the NICs of a NIC team have
the same MAC address of the NIC team can be overcome by identifying
virtual protocol binding information associated with a NIC team and using
that information to identify all the NICs within a team. This solution is
employed by the methods and systems described herein.

[0007] In one aspect, described herein is a method for modifying a virtual
disk to provide network interface card (NIC) teaming capabilities. A
teaming module executing on a computer can identify a NIC team available
to a virtual disk. In response to identifying the NIC team, the teaming
module can obtain a media access control (MAC) address of the NIC team.
Responsive to obtaining the NIC team MAC address, the teaming module can
obtain a network boot MAC address used to PXE boot the virtual disk. The
teaming module can then replace the NIC team MAC address of each NIC in
the NIC team with the obtained network boot MAC address. The virtual disk
is then booted to create the NIC team.

[0008] In some embodiments, the network boot MAC address can comprise a
PXE boot MAC address of a NIC used to PXE boot the virtual disk.

[0009] In other embodiments identifying the NIC team can further include
enumerating each NIC that is included in the NIC team.

[0010] Identifying the NIC team, in other embodiments, can include
identifying a NIC team that is configured to bind to a network stack
filter driver. In some instances, identifying a NIC team bound to a
network stack filter driver can include parsing a registry of the virtual
disk for a subkey specifying a bind to the network stack filter driver.
In other instances, the NICs of the NIC team can be enumerated by parsing
the registry for NICs that have a global identifier substantially similar
to a global identifier of the NIC team. In still other embodiments, the
NIC team MAC address can be bound to the network stack filter driver.

[0011] In one embodiment, booting the virtual disk to create the NIC team
can include updating a registry of the virtual disk to include the
network boot MAC address.

[0012] In some instances, described herein is a system for modifying a
virtual disk to provide network interface card (NIC) teaming
capabilities. The system can include a virtual disk, and a NIC team that
is available to the virtual disk and that includes a multiple NICs. A NIC
teaming module executing on a computer can identify the NIC team and
obtain, responsive to identifying the NIC team, a media access control
(MAC) address of the NIC team. The teaming module can obtain responsive
to obtaining the NIC team MAC address, a network boot MAC address used to
PXE boot the virtual disk, and replace the NIC team MAC address of each
NIC in the NIC team with the obtained network boot MAC address. The
system then boots from the virtual disk that has the modified NIC team
configuration.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] The following figures depict certain illustrative embodiments of a
the methods and systems described herein, where like reference numerals
refer to like elements. Each depicted embodiment is illustrative of the
method and system and not limiting.

[0014] FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrative of an embodiment of a
remote-access, networked environment with a client machine that
communicates with a server.

[0015] FIG. 1B and 1C are block diagrams illustrative of an embodiment of
computing machines for practicing the methods and systems described
herein.

[0016] FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrative of an embodiment of a
physical machine.

[0017] FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrative of an embodiment of a
physical machine employing network interface card teaming.

[0018] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrative of an embodiment of a method
for overriding the MAC address associated with a network interface card
team.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] FIG. 1A illustrates one embodiment of a computing environment 101
that includes one or more client machines 102A-102N (generally referred
to herein as "client machine(s) 102") in communication with one or more
servers 106A-106N (generally referred to herein as "server(s) 106").
Installed in between the client machine(s) 102 and server(s) 106 is a
network.

[0020] In one embodiment, the computing environment 101 can include an
appliance installed between the server(s) 106 and client machine(s) 102.
This appliance can mange client/server connections, and in some cases can
load balance client connections amongst a plurality of backend servers.

[0021] The client machine(s) 102 can in some embodiment be referred to as
a single client machine 102 or a single group of client machines 102,
while server(s) 106 may be referred to as a single server 106 or a single
group of servers 106. In one embodiment a single client machine 102
communicates with more than one server 106, while in another embodiment a
single server 106 communicates with more than one client machine 102. In
yet another embodiment, a single client machine 102 communicates with a
single server 106.

[0022] A client machine 102 can, in some embodiments, be referenced by any
one of the following terms: client machine(s) 102; client(s); client
computer(s); client device(s); client computing device(s); local machine;
remote machine; client node(s); endpoint(s); endpoint node(s); or a
second machine. The server 106, in some embodiments, may be referenced by
any one of the following terms: server(s), local machine; remote machine;
server farm(s), host computing device(s), or a first machine(s).

[0023] In one embodiment, the client machine 102 can be a virtual machine
102C. The virtual machine 102C can be any virtual machine, while in some
embodiments the virtual machine 102C can be any virtual machine managed
by a hypervisor developed by XenSolutions, Citrix Systems, IBM, VMware,
or any other hypervisor. In other embodiments, the virtual machine 102C
can be managed by any hypervisor, while in still other embodiments, the
virtual machine 102C can be managed by a hypervisor executing on a server
106 or a hypervisor executing on a client 102.

[0024] The client machine 102 can in some embodiments execute, operate or
otherwise provide an application that can be any one of the following:
software; a program; executable instructions; a virtual machine; a
hypervisor; a web browser; a web-based client; a client-server
application; a thin-client computing client; an ActiveX control; a Java
applet; software related to voice over internet protocol (VoIP)
communications like a soft IP telephone; an application for streaming
video and/or audio; an application for facilitating real-time-data
communications; a HTTP client; a FTP client; an Oscar client; a Telnet
client; or any other set of executable instructions. Still other
embodiments include a client device 102 that displays application output
generated by an application remotely executing on a server 106 or other
remotely located machine. In these embodiments, the client device 102 can
display the application output in an application window, a browser, or
other output window. In one embodiment, the application is a desktop,
while in other embodiments the application is an application that
generates a desktop.

[0025] The server 106, in some embodiments, executes a remote presentation
client or other client or program that uses a thin-client or
remote-display protocol to capture display output generated by an
application executing on a server 106 and transmits the application
display output to a remote client 102. The thin-client or remote-display
protocol can be any one of the following protocols: the Independent
Computing Architecture (ICA) protocol manufactured by Citrix Systems,
Inc. of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; or the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)
manufactured by the Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.

[0026] The computing environment 101 can include more than one server
106A-106N such that the servers 106A-106N are logically grouped together
into a server farm 106. The server farm 106 can include servers 106 that
are geographically dispersed and logically grouped together in a server
farm 106, or servers 106 that are located proximate to each other and
logically grouped together in a server farm 106. Geographically dispersed
servers 106A-106N within a server farm 106 can, in some embodiments,
communicate using a WAN, MAN, or LAN, where different geographic regions
can be characterized as: different continents; different regions of a
continent; different countries; different states; different cities;
different campuses; different rooms; or any combination of the preceding
geographical locations. In some embodiments the server farm 106 may be
administered as a single entity, while in other embodiments the server
farm 106 can include multiple server farms 106.

[0027] In some embodiments, a server farm 106 can include servers 106 that
execute a substantially similar type of operating system platform (e.g.,
WINDOWS NT, manufactured by Microsoft Corp. of Redmond, Wash., UNIX,
LINUX, or SNOW LEOPARD.) In other embodiments, the server farm 106 can
include a first group of servers 106 that execute a first type of
operating system platform, and a second group of servers 106 that execute
a second type of operating system platform. The server farm 106, in other
embodiments, can include servers 106 that execute different types of
operating system platforms.

[0028] The server 106, in some embodiments, can be any server type. In
other embodiments, the server 106 can be any of the following server
types: a file server; an application server; a web server; a proxy
server; an appliance; a network appliance; a gateway; an application
gateway; a gateway server; a virtualization server; a deployment server;
a SSL VPN server; a firewall; a web server; an application server or as a
master application server; a server 106 executing an active directory; or
a server 106 executing an application acceleration program that provides
firewall functionality, application functionality, or load balancing
functionality. In some embodiments, a server 106 may be a RADIUS server
that includes a remote authentication dial-in user service. In
embodiments where the server 106 comprises an appliance, the server 106
can be an appliance manufactured by any one of the following
manufacturers: the Citrix Application Networking Group; Silver Peak
Systems, Inc; Riverbed Technology, Inc.; F5 Networks, Inc.; or Juniper
Networks, Inc. Some embodiments include a first server 106A that receives
requests from a client machine 102, forwards the request to a second
server 106B, and responds to the request generated by the client machine
102 with a response from the second server 106B. The first server 106A
can acquire an enumeration of applications available to the client
machine 102 and well as address information associated with an
application server 106 hosting an application identified within the
enumeration of applications. The first server 106A can then present a
response to the client's request using a web interface, and communicate
directly with the client 102 to provide the client 102 with access to an
identified application.

[0029] The server 106 can, in some embodiments, execute any one of the
following applications: a thin-client application using a thin-client
protocol to transmit application display data to a client; a remote
display presentation application; any portion of the CITRIX ACCESS SUITE
by Citrix Systems, Inc. like the METAFRAME or CITRIX PRESENTATION SERVER;
MICROSOFT WINDOWS Terminal Services manufactured by the Microsoft
Corporation; or an ICA client, developed by Citrix Systems, Inc. Another
embodiment includes a server 106 that is an application server such as:
an email server that provides email services such as MICROSOFT EXCHANGE
manufactured by the Microsoft Corporation; a web or Internet server; a
desktop sharing server; a collaboration server; or any other type of
application server. Still other embodiments include a server 106 that
executes any one of the following types of hosted servers applications:
GOTOMEETING provided by Citrix Online Division, Inc.; WEBEX provided by
WebEx, Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif.; or Microsoft Office LIVE MEETING
provided by Microsoft Corporation.

[0030] Client machines 102 can, in some embodiments, be a client node that
seeks access to resources provided by a server 106. In other embodiments,
the server 106 may provide clients 102 or client nodes with access to
hosted resources. The server 106, in some embodiments, functions as a
master node such that it communicates with one or more clients 102 or
servers 106. In some embodiments, the master node can identify and
provide address information associated with a server 106 hosting a
requested application, to one or more clients 102 or servers 106. In
still other embodiments, the master node can be a server farm 106, a
client 102, a cluster of client nodes 102, or an appliance.

[0031] One or more clients 102 and/or one or more servers 106 can transmit
data over a network 104 installed between machines and appliances within
the computing environment 101. The network 104 can comprise one or more
sub-networks, and can be installed between any combination of the clients
102, servers 106, computing machines and appliances included within the
computing environment 101. In some embodiments, the network 104 can be: a
local-area network (LAN); a metropolitan area network (MAN); a wide area
network (WAN); a primary network 104 comprised of multiple sub-networks
104 located between the client machines 102 and the servers 106; a
primary public network 104 with a private sub-network 104; a primary
private network 104 with a public sub-network 104; or a primary private
network 104 with a private sub-network 104. Still further embodiments
include a network 104 that can be any of the following network types: a
point to point network; a broadcast network; a telecommunications
network; a data communication network; a computer network; an ATM
(Asynchronous Transfer Mode) network; a SONET (Synchronous Optical
Network) network; a SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) network; a
wireless network; a wireline network; or a network 104 that includes a
wireless link where the wireless link can be an infrared channel or
satellite band. The network topology of the network 104 can differ within
different embodiments, possible network topologies include: a bus network
topology; a star network topology; a ring network topology; a
repeater-based network topology; or a tiered-star network topology.
Additional embodiments may include a network 104 of mobile telephone
networks that use a protocol to communicate among mobile devices, where
the protocol can be any one of the following: AMPS; TDMA; CDMA; GSM; GPRS
UMTS; or any other protocol able to transmit data among mobile devices.

[0032] Illustrated in FIG. 1B is an embodiment of a computing device 100,
where the client machine 102 and server 106 illustrated in FIG. 1A can be
deployed as and/or executed on any embodiment of the computing device 100
illustrated and described herein. Included within the computing device
100 is a system bus 150 that communicates with the following components:
a central processing unit 121; a main memory 122; storage memory 128; an
input/output (I/O) controller 123; display devices 124A-124N; an
installation device 116; and a network interface 118. In one embodiment,
the storage memory 128 includes: an operating system, software routines,
and a client agent 120. The I/O controller 123, in some embodiments, is
further connected to a key board 126, and a pointing device 127. Other
embodiments may include an I/O controller 123 connected to more than one
input/output device 130A-130N.

[0033] FIG. 1C illustrates one embodiment of a computing device 100, where
the client machine 102 and server 106 illustrated in FIG. 1A can be
deployed as and/or executed on any embodiment of the computing device 100
illustrated and described herein. Included within the computing device
100 is a system bus 150 that communicates with the following components:
a bridge 170, and a first I/O device 130A. In another embodiment, the
bridge 170 is in further communication with the main central processing
unit 121, where the central processing unit 121 can further communicate
with a second I/O device 130B, a main memory 122, and a cache memory 140.
Included within the central processing unit 121, are I/O ports, a memory
port 103, and a main processor.

[0034] Embodiments of the computing machine 100 can include a central
processing unit 121 characterized by any one of the following component
configurations: logic circuits that respond to and process instructions
fetched from the main memory unit 122; a microprocessor unit, such as:
those manufactured by Intel Corporation; those manufactured by Motorola
Corporation; those manufactured by Transmeta Corporation of Santa Clara,
Calif.; the RS/6000 processor such as those manufactured by International
Business Machines; a processor such as those manufactured by Advanced
Micro Devices; or any other combination of logic circuits. Still other
embodiments of the central processing unit 122 may include any
combination of the following: a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a
central processing unit with a single processing core, a central
processing unit with two processing cores, or a central processing unit
with more than one processing core.

[0035] While FIG. 1C illustrates a computing device 100 that includes a
single central processing unit 121, in some embodiments the computing
device 100 can include one or more processing units 121. In these
embodiments, the computing device 100 may store and execute firmware or
other executable instructions that, when executed, direct the one or more
processing units 121 to simultaneously execute instructions or to
simultaneously execute instructions on a single piece of data. In other
embodiments, the computing device 100 may store and execute firmware or
other executable instructions that, when executed, direct the one or more
processing units to each execute a section of a group of instructions.
For example, each processing unit 121 may be instructed to execute a
portion of a program or a particular module within a program.

[0036] In some embodiments, the processing unit 121 can include one or
more processing cores. For example, the processing unit 121 may have two
cores, four cores, eight cores, etc. In one embodiment, the processing
unit 121 may comprise one or more parallel processing cores. The
processing cores of the processing unit 121, may in some embodiments
access available memory as a global address space, or in other
embodiments, memory within the computing device 100 can be segmented and
assigned to a particular core within the processing unit 121. In one
embodiment, the one or more processing cores or processors in the
computing device 100 can each access local memory. In still another
embodiment, memory within the computing device 100 can be shared amongst
one or more processors or processing cores, while other memory can be
accessed by particular processors or subsets of processors. In
embodiments where the computing device 100 includes more than one
processing unit, the multiple processing units can be included in a
single integrated circuit (IC). These multiple processors, in some
embodiments, can be linked together by an internal high speed bus, which
may be referred to as an element interconnect bus.

[0037] In embodiments where the computing device 100 includes one or more
processing units 121, or a processing unit 121 including one or more
processing cores, the processors can execute a single instruction
simultaneously on multiple pieces of data (SIMD), or in other embodiments
can execute multiple instructions simultaneously on multiple pieces of
data (MIMD). In some embodiments, the computing device 100 can include
any number of SIMD and MIMD processors.

[0038] The computing device 100, in some embodiments, can include a
graphics processor or a graphics processing unit (Not Shown). The
graphics processing unit can include any combination of software and
hardware, and can further input graphics data and graphics instructions,
render a graphic from the inputted data and instructions, and output the
rendered graphic. In some embodiments, the graphics processing unit can
be included within the processing unit 121. In other embodiments, the
computing device 100 can include one or more processing units 121, where
at least one processing unit 121 is dedicated to processing and rendering
graphics.

[0039] One embodiment of the computing machine 100 includes a central
processing unit 121 that communicates with cache memory 140 via a
secondary bus also known as a backside bus, while another embodiment of
the computing machine 100 includes a central processing unit 121 that
communicates with cache memory via the system bus 150. The local system
bus 150 can, in some embodiments, also be used by the central processing
unit to communicate with more than one type of I/O device 130A-130N. In
some embodiments, the local system bus 150 can be any one of the
following types of buses: a VESA VL bus; an ISA bus; an EISA bus; a
MicroChannel Architecture (MCA) bus; a PCI bus; a PCI-X bus; a
PCI-Express bus; or a NuBus. Other embodiments of the computing machine
100 include an I/O device 130A-130N that is a video display 124 that
communicates with the central processing unit 121. Still other versions
of the computing machine 100 include a processor 121 connected to an I/O
device 130A-130N via any one of the following connections:
HyperTransport, Rapid I/O, or InfiniBand. Further embodiments of the
computing machine 100 include a processor 121 that communicates with one
I/O device 130A using a local interconnect bus and a second I/O device
130B using a direct connection.

[0040] The computing device 100, in some embodiments, includes a main
memory unit 122 and cache memory 140. The cache memory 140 can be any
memory type, and in some embodiments can be any one of the following
types of memory: SRAM; BSRAM; or EDRAM. Other embodiments include cache
memory 140 and a main memory unit 122 that can be any one of the
following types of memory: Static random access memory (SRAM), Burst SRAM
or SynchBurst SRAM (BSRAM); Dynamic random access memory (DRAM); Fast
Page Mode DRAM (FPM DRAM); Enhanced DRAM (EDRAM), Extended Data Output
RAM (EDO RAM); Extended Data Output DRAM (EDO DRAM); Burst Extended Data
Output DRAM (BEDO DRAM); Enhanced DRAM (EDRAM); synchronous DRAM (SDRAM);
JEDEC SRAM; PC100 SDRAM; Double Data Rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM); Enhanced
SDRAM (ESDRAM); SyncLink DRAM (SLDRAM); Direct Rambus DRAM (DRDRAM);
Ferroelectric RAM (FRAM); or any other type of memory. Further
embodiments include a central processing unit 121 that can access the
main memory 122 via: a system bus 150; a memory port 103; or any other
connection, bus or port that allows the processor 121 to access memory
122.

[0041] One embodiment of the computing device 100 provides support for any
one of the following installation devices 116: a CD-ROM drive, a CD-R/RW
drive, a DVD-ROM drive, tape drives of various formats, USB device, a
bootable medium, a bootable CD, a bootable CD for GNU/Linux distribution
such as KNOPPIX®, a hard-drive or any other device suitable for
installing applications or software. Applications can in some embodiments
include a client agent 120, or any portion of a client agent 120. The
computing device 100 may further include a storage device 128 that can be
either one or more hard disk drives, or one or more redundant arrays of
independent disks; where the storage device is configured to store an
operating system, software, programs applications, or at least a portion
of the client agent 120. A further embodiment of the computing device 100
includes an installation device 116 that is used as the storage device
128.

[0042] The computing device 100 may further include a network interface
118 to interface to a Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN)
or the Internet through a variety of connections including, but not
limited to, standard telephone lines, LAN or WAN links (e.g., 802.11, T1,
T3, 56 kb, X.25, SNA, DECNET), broadband connections (e.g., ISDN, Frame
Relay, ATM, Gigabit Ethernet, Ethernet-over-SONET), wireless connections,
or some combination of any or all of the above. Connections can also be
established using a variety of communication protocols (e.g., TCP/IP,
IPX, SPX, NetBIOS, Ethernet, ARCNET, SONET, SDH, Fiber Distributed Data
Interface (FDDI), RS232, RS485, IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b,
IEEE 802.11g, CDMA, GSM, WiMax and direct asynchronous connections). One
version of the computing device 100 includes a network interface 118 able
to communicate with additional computing devices 100' via any type and/or
form of gateway or tunneling protocol such as Secure Socket Layer (SSL)
or Transport Layer Security (TLS), or the Citrix Gateway Protocol
manufactured by Citrix Systems, Inc. Versions of the network interface
118 can comprise any one of: a built-in network adapter; a network
interface card; a PCMCIA network card; a card bus network adapter; a
wireless network adapter; a USB network adapter; a modem; or any other
device suitable for interfacing the computing device 100 to a network
capable of communicating and performing the methods and systems described
herein.

[0043] Embodiments of the computing device 100 include any one of the
following I/O devices 130A-130N: a keyboard 126; a pointing device 127;
mice; trackpads; an optical pen; trackballs; microphones; drawing
tablets; video displays; speakers; inkjet printers; laser printers; and
dye-sublimation printers; or any other input/output device able to
perform the methods and systems described herein. An I/O controller 123
may in some embodiments connect to multiple I/O devices 103A-130N to
control the one or more I/O devices. Some embodiments of the I/O devices
130A-130N may be configured to provide storage or an installation medium
116, while others may provide a universal serial bus (USB) interface for
receiving USB storage devices such as the USB Flash Drive line of devices
manufactured by Twintech Industry, Inc. Still other embodiments include
an I/O device 130 that may be a bridge between the system bus 150 and an
external communication bus, such as: a USB bus; an Apple Desktop Bus; an
RS-232 serial connection; a SCSI bus; a FireWire bus; a FireWire 800 bus;
an Ethernet bus; an AppleTalk bus; a Gigabit Ethernet bus; an
Asynchronous Transfer Mode bus; a HIPPI bus; a Super HIPPI bus; a
SerialPlus bus; a SCI/LAMP bus; a FibreChannel bus; or a Serial Attached
small computer system interface bus.

[0044] In some embodiments, the computing machine 100 can connect to
multiple display devices 124A-124N, in other embodiments the computing
device 100 can connect to a single display device 124, while in still
other embodiments the computing device 100 connects to display devices
124A-124N that are the same type or form of display, or to display
devices that are different types or forms. Embodiments of the display
devices 124A-124N can be supported and enabled by the following: one or
multiple I/O devices 130A-130N; the I/O controller 123; a combination of
I/O device(s) 130A-130N and the I/O controller 123; any combination of
hardware and software able to support a display device 124A-124N; any
type and/or form of video adapter, video card, driver, and/or library to
interface, communicate, connect or otherwise use the display devices
124A-124N. The computing device 100 may in some embodiments be configured
to use one or multiple display devices 124A-124N, these configurations
include: having multiple connectors to interface to multiple display
devices 124A-124N; having multiple video adapters, with each video
adapter connected to one or more of the display devices 124A-124N; having
an operating system configured to support multiple displays 124A-124N;
using circuits and software included within the computing device 100 to
connect to and use multiple display devices 124A-124N; and executing
software on the main computing device 100 and multiple secondary
computing devices to enable the main computing device 100 to use a
secondary computing device's display as a display device 124A-124N for
the main computing device 100. Still other embodiments of the computing
device 100 may include multiple display devices 124A-124N provided by
multiple secondary computing devices and connected to the main computing
device 100 via a network.

[0045] In some embodiments, the computing machine 100 can execute any
operating system, while in other embodiments the computing machine 100
can execute any of the following operating systems: versions of the
MICROSOFT WINDOWS operating systems such as WINDOWS 3.x; WINDOWS 95;
WINDOWS 98; WINDOWS 2000; WINDOWS NT 3.51; WINDOWS NT 4.0; WINDOWS CE;
WINDOWS XP; and WINDOWS VISTA; the different releases of the Unix and
Linux operating systems; any version of the MAC OS manufactured by Apple
Computer; OS/2, manufactured by International Business Machines; any
embedded operating system; any real-time operating system; any open
source operating system; any proprietary operating system; any operating
systems for mobile computing devices; or any other operating system. In
still another embodiment, the computing machine 100 can execute multiple
operating systems. For example, the computing machine 100 can execute
PARALLELS or another virtualization platform that can execute or manage a
virtual machine executing a first operating system, while the computing
machine 100 executes a second operating system different from the first
operating system.

[0046] The computing machine 100 can be embodied in any one of the
following computing devices: a computing workstation; a desktop computer;
a laptop or notebook computer; a server; a handheld computer; a mobile
telephone; a portable telecommunication device; a media playing device; a
gaming system; a mobile computing device; a netbook; a device of the IPOD
family of devices manufactured by Apple Computer; any one of the
PLAYSTATION family of devices manufactured by the Sony Corporation; any
one of the Nintendo family of devices manufactured by Nintendo Co; any
one of the XBOX family of devices manufactured by the Microsoft
Corporation; or any other type and/or form of computing,
telecommunications or media device that is capable of communication and
that has sufficient processor power and memory capacity to perform the
methods and systems described herein. In other embodiments the computing
machine 100 can be a mobile device such as any one of the following
mobile devices: a JAVA-enabled cellular telephone or personal digital
assistant (PDA), such as the i55sr, i58sr, i85s, i88s, i90c, i95c1, or
the im1100, all of which are manufactured by Motorola Corp; the 6035 or
the 7135, manufactured by Kyocera; the i300 or i330, manufactured by
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd; the TREO 180, 270, 600, 650, 680, 700p,
700w, or 750 smart phone manufactured by Palm, Inc; any computing device
that has different processors, operating systems, and input devices
consistent with the device; or any other mobile computing device capable
of performing the methods and systems described herein. In still other
embodiments, the computing device 100 can be any one of the following
mobile computing devices: any one series of Blackberry, or other handheld
device manufactured by Research In Motion Limited; the iPhone
manufactured by Apple Computer; Palm Pre; a Pocket PC; a Pocket PC Phone;
or any other handheld mobile device.

[0047] Illustrated in FIG. 2 is block diagram that illustrates an
embodiment of a physical machine 302 environment configured to provision
a virtual disk, but not configured to provision a virtual disk having
network interface card (NIC) teaming capabilities. The physical machine
302 includes a set of communication protocols such as the TCP/IP
protocols 314 or the IPX/SPX protocols 316 that can be used to transmit
data over a network. The physical machine further includes two NICS, NIC
1 310 and NIC 2 312. Also included in the physical machine 302 a network
driver interface specification (NDIS) wrapper 304 in communication with a
network stack filter driver 306, a first NIC driver 320, a second NIC
driver 326, a first miniport driver instance 322 and a second miniport
driver instance 328. The network filter driver (BNNS) 306 is further in
communication with a protocol driver (BNIStack) 308.

[0048] Further referring to FIG. 2, and in more detail, the physical
machine 302 is a computing machine having the ability to perform logic or
functions in accordance with programmed instructions. In some
embodiments, the physical machine 302 may be a computing workstation, a
desktop computer, a laptop or notebook computer, a server, or any of the
other embodiments of the computing machine 100 listed above. Still
further embodiments include a physical machine 302 that is referred to by
any of the following identifying labels: computing machine; computer;
local computing machine; remote computing machine; first computing
machine; second computing machine; third computing machine; machine; or
any other identifier used to denote some type of system having a
processor and a memory element, wherein the processor is able to execute
software commands. The physical machine 302 may be a physical computing
machine or virtual computing machine, and may have a characteristic or
characteristics identifying the computing machine as one of either of a
physical machine or virtual machine.

[0049] A local physical disk (not shown) can be, in some embodiments,
included in the physical machine 302 and can be a hard disk drive. In
further embodiments, the local physical disk may be a combination of
physical or virtual disks in a Redundant Array of Independent Disks
(RAID). In one embodiment, the local physical disk is in direct
communication with any one of the following machine components: an
installer program (not shown), and the network driver interface
specification (NDIS) wrapper 304. In another embodiment, the local
physical disk (not shown) communicates with the following machine
components: a first NIC driver 320, a second NIC driver 326, a first
miniport driver instance 322 and a second miniport driver instance 328.
While in some embodiments a local physical disk can be included, in other
embodiments a virtual disk can be included.

[0050] In communication with the NDIS wrapper 304 is a network filter
driver (BNNS) 306 that intercepts network packets and determines if the
network packets should be de-multiplexed to the NDIS wrapper 304 or
BNIStack 308. In one embodiment the BNNS 306 can determine a packet's
destination by examining the packet's header, and determining whether the
sockets match. The BNNS 306 is an intermediate driver for the NDIS
wrapper 304 in that it can bind to third-party NICs and provide some
network services. BNNS 306 is in communication with the BNIStack 308
which is the protocol driver for computing machines. The BNIStack 308 can
send and receive messages from the filter driver (BNNS) 306 that filters
all read/write requests issued to a virtual disk on either a client or a
server. When the read/write requests are issued to a virtual disk, the
requests are filtered and sent to the protocol driver 308.

[0051] Further in communication with the NDIS wrapper 304 is a grouping of
elements related to the first NIC 310 and the second NIC 312 including a
NIC driver 320, 326 and a miniport driver instance 322, 328. The first
and second NIC drivers 320, 326 are drivers used by the operating system
or the NDIS wrapper 304 to communicate with the first and second NICs
310, 312. In some embodiments, the NIC drivers 320, 326 can be device
drivers that provide an abstraction layer between the physical NICs 310,
312 and the operating system. The first and second miniport driver
instances 322, 328 can facilitate communication between the operating
system and operating system components and other class drivers such as
the NIC drivers 320, 326. In one embodiment, the first and second
miniport driver instances 322, 328 are drivers that provide support for a
specific network interface card present in a physical machine by
translating inputs and outputs from the physical NIC into a format that
the operating system can read and interact with, and may enable a
computing machine to communicate over a network with a second computing
machine (not illustrated). In one embodiment, each of the NIC drivers
320, 326; and the miniport driver instances 322, 328 are used by the
computing machine to communicate with the NICs 310, 312 and to further
communication over a network with remote computing machines.

[0052] In one embodiment, a NDIS wrapper 304 is included in the physical
machine 302. The NDIS wrapper 304, in some embodiments, is a set of
export libraries that provide both an abstraction layer and portability
for all interactions between a NIC or NIC miniport driver and the
operating system. When a program instructs the physical machine 302 to
bind to a miniport driver 322, 328, the NDIS wrapper 304 may generate the
resultant binding information which can be stored within the operating
system, and included within the created virtual disk. In one embodiment,
the physical machine 302 may contain, in lieu of the NDIS wrapper 304, an
application, function, routine, logic, virtual object, or other set of
code instructions having substantially equivalent functionality to that
of the NDIS wrapper 304.

[0053] Further included in the physical machine 302 is a first and second
NIC 310, 312. In some embodiments, the NICs 310, 312 can be the same type
of NIC, while in other embodiments, the NICs 310, 312 can be different
types of NICs. The NIC can be referred to as a network adapter, a network
interface controller, a LAN adapter or any other moniker indicating that
the NIC is a hardware component within the physical machine 302 that
permits the physical machine 302 to communicate over a network with other
machines. In many embodiments, the NICs 310, 312 use MAC addresses, or
unique serial numbers assigned to each NIC, to provide low level
addressing at the physical network layer. While FIG. 2A illustrates two
NICs 310, 312, in other embodiments, any number of NICs can be included
in the physical machine 302.

[0054] In one embodiment, the system described in FIG. 2A can include a
NIC teaming intermediate driver that can be used to implement a NIC team.
The NIC teaming intermediate driver, in some embodiments, can be any NIC
teaming driver. In other embodiments, the NIC teaming intermediate driver
can be a NIC teaming driver manufactured by INTEL, INTEL ADVANCED
NETWORKING SERVICES, or BROADCOM, BROADCOM ADVANCED SERVER PROGRAM. The
NIC teaming driver can balance inbound and outbound network traffic
amongst one or more NICs. In one embodiment, the NIC teaming driver can
act as a single virtual protocol driver, and can enumerate a single
virtual miniport interface that the upper NDIS wrapper 304 can
communicate with. Thus, the NIC teaming driver can act as a single driver
for all NICs included in the system. Further, the NIC teaming driver can
handle load balancing and fault tolerance for the network traffic handled
by each NIC in the NIC team.

[0055] In some embodiments, the BNNS filter driver 306 can interface with
the NIC teaming driver to take advantage of the functionality provided by
the NIC teaming driver. Embodiments where the BNNS filter driver 306
positions itself on top of a NIC teaming driver may include: a NIC
miniport driver that can load at boot time (Start=0); a NIC intermediate
driver that can load at boot time (Start=0); and a target device that can
be installed after NIC teaming is properly installed and configured. In
the above-mentioned embodiment, the NIC teaming driver may only expose
one teamed NIC network interface through software based multiplexing or
hardware based 802.3ad link aggregation for the upper layer application
(BNNS) 306. Applications such as operating system streaming and remote
application delivery applications (e.g. XENAPP, XENDESKTOP) traffic can
benefit from NIC teaming. Further, the virtual disk or the target
computer onto which the virtual disk is installed, may take advantage of
the NIC teaming, the NIC hardware and software rich functionality. The
remote application delivery application may also benefit from NIC teaming
since it only needs to communicate with the single IP address.

[0056] Illustrated in FIG. 2B is an embodiment of the system illustrated
in FIG. 2A that further includes a teaming module 362 that can facilitate
changing the configuration of the members of the NIC team. Also included
in this embodiment of the physical machine are the elements of NIC
teaming software that can be used to create the single aggregate NIC 364
representative of the NIC team, these elements include: a MUX miniport
driver 350 in communication with a NIC teaming intermediate driver 352
which is further in communication with a first MUX protocol instance 354
and a second MUX protocol instance 356. All other aspects of the physical
machine 302, as described in FIG. 2A, are included.

[0057] The teaming module 362 can be any program, set of commands or
software element executable by a processor on the physical machine 302 to
alter the NIC teaming software 364 and further alter the configuration of
the NIC team created by the NIC teaming software. In one embodiment, the
teaming module 362 can carry out the method 402 illustrated in FIG. 3. In
another embodiment, the teaming module 362 can carry out any number of
steps needed to alter the MAC addresses of the members of a NIC team so
that they all have a team MAC address corresponding to the MAC address of
a NIC used to PXE boot a streamed virtual hard disk. In some embodiments,
the teaming module 362 may execute on the physical machine 302 while in
other embodiments, the teaming module 362 may execute on a remote
computing machine in communication with the physical machine 302.

[0058] A third party or proprietary teaming software 364 can be used to
create a NIC team. This NIC teaming software 364 can in some embodiments
be used to generate the driver components of a single aggregate NIC 364
representative of the NIC team. In one embodiment, the teaming software
364 can include a multiplexed miniport driver 350 that comprises the NIC
team's virtual miniport binding information, the NIC teaming intermediate
driver 352 and the first and second multiplexed (MUX) protocol instances
354, 356. In one embodiment, the first and second MUX protocol instances
354, 356 correspond to the members of the NIC team which in this
embodiment is the first and second NIC 310, 312. The number of MUX
protocol instances 354, 356 can in some embodiments correspond to the
number of NICs included in the team. The physical machine 302 uses the
NIC teaming software 364 components as the drivers used to communicate
with the members of the NIC team, i.e. the first and second NICS 310,
312, and to communicate over a network with remote computing machines. In
some embodiments, the NIC teaming software 364 can load balance the
transmission and receipt of network packets amongst the members of the
NIC team. Load balancing using the NIC teaming software 364 can increase
the speed at which network packets are transmitted and received over the
network. In other embodiments, the NIC teaming software 364 can be used
to introduce NIC redundancy by issuing transmit/receive commands to a
second NIC team member when a first NIC team member fails. The teaming
software 364 can in some embodiments generate the NIC team with a NIC
team virtual MAC address or network address.

[0059] While FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate embodiments of a system that
utilizes NIC teaming, in some embodiments the systems can be employed on
a virtual disk. Thus, the components illustrated as executing on the
physical machine 302 can execute on a virtual disk. In some embodiments,
the virtual disk can be deployed on a virtual machine, while in other
embodiments the virtual disk can be deployed on a physical machine 302.
In some embodiments, substantially each one of the components, with the
exception of the physical NICs 310, 312 can be deployed on a virtual
disk. In other embodiments, substantially each one of the components with
the exception of the physical NICs 310, 312 and the teaming module 362
can be deployed on a virtual disk.

[0060] Illustrated in FIG. 3 is an embodiment of a method 402 for aiding
the NIC teaming software 364 in altering the configuration of the NIC
team to further create a virtual disk that can have NIC teaming
capabilities once it is streamed to a remote machine. The method 402
includes first identifying the NIC team (Step 404) and then enumerating
all of the NICs within the registry (Step 406). Once all of the NICs are
enumerated, a determination must be made as to which NICs are within the
NIC team (Step 408). The network address or the MAC address of the NIC
that the virtual disk uses to PXE boot is identified (Step 410). Once
this PXE boot MAC address is identified, the MAC addresses or network
addresses of each NIC that is a member of the NIC team is replaced with
the PXE boot MAC address (Step 412). In some embodiments, all or portions
of the method 402 can be carried out by a teaming module executing on the
physical computer. In other embodiments, the teaming module can execute
on another computer that is in communication with the physical computer.

[0061] Further referring to FIG. 3, and in more detail, the NIC team is
identified (Step 404) by identifying whether the upper bind of the NIC
team points to the BNNS 306. The upper bind is a characteristic of a NIC
that identifies where the NIC should pass packets once they are received.
In embodiments where the NIC team's upper bind indicates that network
packets should be passed up to the BNNS 306, that NIC team will be
identified as the NIC team of interest or the NIC team to be altered by
the teaming module 362. In some embodiments, the teaming module 362
identifies the NIC team by searching through a registry or database to
identify the NIC team's virtual miniport binding information. In other
embodiments, the binding information and therefore the NIC team can be
identified by searching through a registry and iterating over subkeys of

[0062] HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E97-
2-E25-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} to determine which subkey has an upper bind
that specified in BNNS. Determining that the upper bind specifies BNNS is
by finding a subkey where <XXXX>\Linkage\UpperBind=BNNS. In some
embodiments, determining the NIC team includes determining confirmation
information associated with the third party NIC team. In one embodiment,
the following is recorded by the teaming module 362,
<XXXX>\Linkage\Export=\Device\{guid}.

[0063] In some embodiments, identifying the NIC team can further include
identifying or obtaining the PXE MAC address of the NIC team. This PXE
MAC address can be bound to the BNNS 306. Determining the PXE MAC address
of the NIC team can include searching through the registry of the virtual
disk to identify a key related to a NIC team and bound to the BNNS
network filter 306. Obtaining the NIC team MAC address can, in some
embodiments, occur in response to identifying the NIC team.

[0064] Once the NIC team has been identified, all of the NICs are
enumerated (Step 406) by enumerating all NICs and each by searching
through the registry for NICs have a global identifier or guid similar to
the one stored by the teaming module 362. In one embodiment enumerating
all the NICs includes enumerating all the NICs on a physical machine 302.
In other embodiments, enumerating all the NICs includes enumerating all
the NICs included in the NIC team. Enumerating the NICs in the NIC team
can include parsing the registry for NICs that have a global identifier
substantially the same as the global identifier of the NIC team.

[0065] The teaming module 362 then identifies which NICs are members of
the NIC team (Step 408) by determining which of the enumerated NICs have
an upper bind specifying BNNS. In some embodiments determining whether an
enumerated NIC has an upper bind specifying BNNS includes determining
whether the MiniportBindingList subkey matches the LinkageExport of the
identified NIC team. The LinkageExport of the identified NIC team is
equal to BNNS.

[0066] The teaming module 362 then identifies the network address or MAC
address used to PXE boot the virtual hard disk (Step 410), and replaces
the network address or MAC address associated with each member of the NIC
team with the PXE boot MAC address (Step 412). This step, in some
embodiments, can occur in response to obtaining the NIC team MAC address.
In other embodiments, the PXE boot MAC address can be a network boot
address that was used by the system to PXE boot the virtual disk. In one
embodiment, the MAC addresses of each NIC within the NIC team are
replaced by searching through the subkeys of

[0067]
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControllSet\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E25--
11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} and inserting the PXE boot MAC address in place of
the NIC team virtual network address stored in the registry keys for each
NIC team member. In other embodiments, the MAC address of the NIC third
party teaming software 364 is replaced with the PXE boot MAC address.
Inserting the PXE boot MAC address in place of the virtual MAC address of
the NIC team, permits the NIC teaming module included in the virtual disk
to configure and recreate the team on a different machine. Once the
virtual disk image is corrected via the steps described in the method
402, the virtual disk is streamed to a remote machine.

[0068] In some embodiments, replacing the NIC team settings with the PXE
boot MAC address can include unbinding and uninstalling the PVS target
device. In these embodiments, the virtual disk may be required to be
unbound and uninstalled, or the NIC team may be required to be unbound
and uninstalled.

[0069] In other embodiments, the method can further include booting the
system from the virtual disk that has the modified NIC team
configuration. This modified NIC team configuration can include the NIC
team that has the modified NIC team MAC address. Booting the virtual disk
to create the NIC team, in some embodiments, can include updating keys
and subkeys of a registry of the virtual disk to include the network boot
MAC address or PXE boot MAC address used to replace the NIC team MAC
address.

[0070] The present disclosure may be provided as one or more
computer-readable programs embodied on or in one or more articles of
manufacture. The article of manufacture may be a floppy disk, a hard
disk, a compact disc, a digital versatile disc, a flash memory card, a
PROM, a RAM, a ROM, a computer readable medium having instructions
executable by a processor, or a magnetic tape. In general, the
computer-readable programs may be implemented in any programming
language. Some examples of languages that can be used include C, C++, C#,
or JAVA. The software programs may be stored on or in one or more
articles of manufacture as object code.

[0071] While various embodiments of the methods and systems have been
described, these embodiments are exemplary and in no way limit the scope
of the described methods or systems. Those having skill in the relevant
art can effect changes to form and details of the described methods and
systems without departing from the broadest scope of the described
methods and systems. Thus, the scope of the methods and systems described
herein should not be limited by any of the exemplary embodiments and
should be defined in accordance with the accompany claims and their
equivalents.